MOON MUSIC

The moon has been an experience this week.

On Wednesday night, when X-Chromo and I drove to religious ed, it was huge and silver and shivering wonderful. Thursday morning, when I awoke, the moon was directly across from my bedroom, in the spot where the sun usually sets.

On Thursday night (late afternoon, early evening), while driving to the Chromos' school to pick them up after drama club, the moon was enormous and perfectly round, and the sky around it was pale lavender and pale pink as the sun considered setting.

Friday morning was the best. I had to leave my house at 6:30am to be at work early. It was still dark outside, but the moon dominated the sky, no questions. All of us who arrived at work at 7am (yes! it was still dark outside, although it was getting lighter) commented on sight.

Have you ever seen the movie MOONSTRUCK with Cher and Nicholas Cage? Friday morning's moon was the same one, the one Cher's uncle (in the movie) called Cosmo's Moon.

As I drove to work, I thought about making a CD mix of moon-themed songs. Several are on my Werewolf Chronicles -- MOONDANCE (Van Morrison), BAD MOON RISING (Creedence Clearwater Revival), HARVEST MOON (Neil Young) -- and I can think of others (MOON RIVER, FLY ME TO THE MOON), but not enough to justify a whole CD.

So, I'm open to suggestions, folks. I know a lot of you read this even if you don't comment, so reply here or privately.

Mercury in Retro & Other Phenomena

The other day, someone told me Mercury was in retrograde. I used to stay on top of those things. I don't anymore. But if what I was told is true, a lot of things are making sense. There was one day this past week when I couldn't get a computer mouse to function. At all. Not on my desktop computer, not on my lap top computer.

It's a good thing my agent hasn't sold my book, because I couldn't have signed a contract, not with Merc in retro.

I'm also working on a Tarot as a writing tool workshop for my local RWA chapter, along with my friend Janina. Neither one of us are 'professional' tarot readers, altho' we do enjoy the process.

Last night, I looked over a job hunting spread I'd done back in January. It was interesting that who I was and my current situation showed open-handed characters, but my two solution cards showed clenched fists. Even more interesting is that the outcome card shows only white light were the character's hands should be.

Last weekend, I did spreads for my villain and his pregnant wife. Who he is at this time in the book (EXISTENCE) is who she will become at the end of her journey. And his first solution card is her (RIPENESS), at this time in their story. He needs to let go, she needs to learn to trust and play.

Now I need to redo all the spreads and take photos to upload into Power Point for the program in a couple of weeks. Good thing I won 4 digital cameras at my company picnic this summer.

Maybe if Janina and I can perfect this program, we can take our show on the road to other chapters, regional conferences, even national. Altho' I have another friend who is on the workshop committee for the national conference (now there's an understatement), and she mentioned that there are always a couple of Tarot-for-Writers type of workshops pitched. I've never seen one listed at national (altho' I did see one on the NEC line-up last year). Perhaps 'they' are afraid afraid of the vocal minority who believe Tarot is the devil's tool.

I perceive tarot for writers to be a visual focal point to free what's already in the subconscious about our stories. Then again, I'm more of a pantser* than a plotter (altho' I'm not purely a pantser, either), so my subconscious understanding of my stories really needs to be freed.

*Pantser is the term used for people who write by the seat of their pants as opposed to detailed outlines, spreadsheets, tri-fold science fair presentation boards with color-coded sticky notes, etc. used by plotters. Both methods work. As Nora says, it's YOUR process (she's a pantser); whatever works for YOU -- but you can't edit a blank page.

Which means, I must go write. I have a 5-page commitment for today. Yeah. right. I mean, WRITE.

Radio Daze

Back in the "olden" days, when I was a teenager and a young adult, there weren't many radio stations on the air in my neck of the woods. Choice was limited. I think there were more buttons on my car radio than there were stations. It seems like I spent more time looking for music while driving than I did listening to music, because of the chatter, the commericals, etc. Back then, we didn't have 8-track, cassette, CD or mp3 capabilities in our vehicles. Okay, I confess: I don't think we had FM radio capability.

Nowadays, I have cassette and CD options in my car, but periodically, I'll turn on the radio. There are 10 times more stations than there were all those years ago. I have a scan button right on my steering where, so I don't even have to reach to change the station . . . and guess what?

I still can't find music.

Joan Didion and Me

Oh, it's been a week or two the past couple of days. Busy. Wildly, insanely busy at my day job (which is better than bored), plus I'm scrambling to finish my book so I can enter it in RWA's GOLDEN HEART contest.

The chromos' school-related stuff is ramping up, along with Y-Chromo's college quest. X-Chromo has bonded with the drama club, plus she has use of a fancy-schmancy digital camera for one of her art classes, so she's driving everyone crazy completing her assignments.

Most of my crit partners had bad news this week: this one's line folded; that one's editor wants major revisions; still another has run into a SNAFU with her international adoption. On Thursday night, after a rocky day at work, I came home to an e-mail from my agent: my submission status report. It was my turn for bad news. SIX rejections. Or as we call them in my local RWA chapter, 6 BLACK ROSES.

Whoa.

The thing that bothers me the most is the preponderance of comments about my voice, which in the past has always been my strong suit. I sometimes wonder if I polish my voice out of my stories when I try to address concerns raised by contest judges and other beta-type readers.

I can't let these rejections dilute my excitement about my current book.

Right now, I need to concentrate on finishing it. I'm already thinking about how to revise it, now that I know more about the characters and the story. I'm looking forward to making it a better book.

But the most amazing thing -- to me -- is how much of the story was in chapter one, and I didn't even know it. All the things my heroine needs are right there. And another character, a secondary character about whom I'd like to write in the future, revealed his whole motivation to me in a single sentence he said to another character. It blew me away.

I have no clue how this happened. But it happens ALL the time. I've heard other writers say the same thing. In fact, Joan Didion once wrote, "I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear."

To which I can only say, "Yes."